The Death of Ivan Ilyich is the first work by Leo Tolstoy I've read, aside from a short story or two. Barely a novella itself, The Death of Ivan Ilyich is just over 100 pages long, running just over two hours on Audible. It tells the story of the illness, suffering, and death of a high-court judge in Tsarist Russia. Although the bulk of the story takes place in the three weeks leading up to the main character's death, it also gives the background of Ilyich's ascendancy to the magistracy and his unhappy marriage to Praskovya Fedorovna Golovin and the minor fall that leads to his illness and eventual death.
What makes this a great novella is the way it portrays the trappings of bourgeois life and how quickly it can all be taken away. At one point, Ilyich muses that falling awkwardly while hanging curtains ends his life as surely as if he had died storming a fortress. Reading Tolstoy can be intimidating, with his works running thousands ot pages, but I found The Death of Ivan Ilyich to be fascinating and engaging. Recommended.
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